No. 77: Pork Curry at Miyabi-Tei

​Welcome to the Weekly's list of our 100 Favorite Dishes for 2011! Tune in every day until we get to número uno! Now, on to the latest entry. . . .

Supposedly, Portuguese missionaries introduced curry to Japan after they picked up the meal in Goa, India--I say "supposedly," because almost all food-genesis stories are as believable as the "beef" in a Taco Bell taco. I always remember this apocryphal story when eating Japanese-style curry, which is often because the Weekly's world headquarters are so close to Mitsuwa, home to my favorite pork curry of them all: the one hawked by the Miyabi-Tei food stall.The best Japanese curries are equal parts crunch, murkiness, soaked rice, and the slight acidity of pickled ginger. Miyabi-Tei's version is all this, and more: the immaculate placing of all its parts, a crunch to the pork that sends sweet shards flying across your face, impeccable rice that sponges up the curry, more sweet that heat yet opening up the palate so you can absorb all of its distinct flavors. Damn thing's so good, I'm sure even its plastic rendition, immortalized in the window counter, is better than most of the competition out there...

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I gotta say, that does look better than any pork curry cutlet plates that have ever been set before me.

Funny thing is, Miyabi-Tei is better known to me as "that stall between Santouka [ramen] and Sanuki Sandou [udon]." I can't tell you how blessed I feel that steps away from JB World Headquarters here in Costa Mesa is the region's best ramen, udon, and (now) cutlet curry joints, all next to each other.